Syracuse football team taking 'mind over matter' approach to late-season injuries

Syracuse University defensive tackle Jay Bromley shows off after sacking Missouri quarterback James Franklin on Saturday in Columbia, Mo. Bromley was one of a number of Orange players fighting off nagging injuries this week in preparation for the season finale at Temple.Frank Ordoñez/The Post-Standard

Syracuse, NY – The Syracuse University football team may have limped back to town following last Saturday’s physical 31-27 win at Missouri.

But the Orange will be out in force on Friday morning when they finish the regular season in Philadelphia against the Temple Owls (11 a.m., ESPN2).

On Monday, SU head coach Doug Marrone said that half of his 22 starters were on the injured list this week. The coach didn’t say how badly anyone was hurt.

Only junior running back Prince-Tyson Gulley wore a white, no contact, jersey during practices this week, and Marrone said on Wednesday that he had all of his available players ready for the game.

“All of the players have practiced for us, so we expect everyone to play,” Marrone said during his weekly pre-game news conference.

The most notable of the banged-up crowd were Gulley and his backfield mate Jerome Smith. Each spent time on the sidelines Saturday in Columbia, Mo.

Smith is SU’s leading rusher, averaging nearly 84 yards per game. Gulley adds another 50 yards per game to the equation, and the two have been a key to the Orange’s balanced attack as of late.

SU averages 163.8 yards per game on the ground and 309.5 yards through the air this season.

Marrone said the conversation with players this week was about overcoming the pain and pushing through the last game of the regular season.

"I think our focus has been to physically get back," he said. "Mentally, we really worked on mind over your body. Everyone’s banged up. Everyone’s hurt."

One player who won't be in uniform is junior return man/running back Steve Rene. The Brooklyn native is out for the season and will have surgery to fix an upper body injury.